Water in the Grave
by the Mirage Prismatic
Summary: Before Young Justice, Aqualad has his regrets and dark memories even as he visits an old friend who is the only one who could understand why.  Rated T b/c i'm paranoid. as of now; complete


I can't do stories with more than seven chapters; they're impossible at least for fanfiction. So, for my first Young Justice fiction I give you a one-shot. :D I've been in the Legion fandom for a while; hopefully it gave me some practice.

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Young Justice: Water in the Grave

Mount Justice, The Weekend

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Aqualad was dressed in his civilian clothes as he slid out of the narrow corridor off the main one. The lighting was dim this early in the morning; neither Kid Flash nor Superboy were morning birds if they could get away with it and Robin was probably in the dojo at this hour (even though it was 5 o'clock in the morning, the crack of dawn).

"Where are you going?" Aqualad froze as he turned to meet the curious eyes of Miss Martin, peering at him from the wall; literally the wall.

"Can you stop doing that?"

"Doing what?"

"Please step out of the wall."

"Oh! I forgot that 'creeps' people out as Kid Flash told me." The young Martin melted out of the wall; she was wearing a white and blue semi-casual dress and she smiled at Aqualad's surprised expression. "Black Canary took me and Superboy out shopping the other day," she explained with a bright smile. "Do you like it?"

"It's very nice." Aqualad, trying to edge away.

"Oh. Okay. Where are you going?"

"Just…out." What a lame excuse. It was never this difficult to sneak out in Atlantis. Probably because he was Aquaman's apprentice, his partner. He was allowed to go wherever he pleased as long as he stayed loyal to the Atlantian Empire. (Speedy was right; side-kick was a degrading term).

Miss Martin gave him a look; one that she had probably picked up from hanging out with Kid Flash over the last few days. "Can I come?"

"No!" he blurted a little too hastily.

Immediately, the cheerful and slightly mischievous glow in her eyes dimmed significantly as her shoulders slumped. Aqualad mentally kicked himself as he hastened to correct himself. "My apologies M'gann, I didn't mean to offend you. I just wished to visit my friend, alone. That is all."

She perked up at that, a smile playing her green features. "Your friend?"

What made him say friend instead; "I just like some time to think, by myself," ?

"Yeah. " Aqualad glanced down at the ground before turning away. "I'll see you later."

"Okay." Aqualad heard the smile in her voice but chose not to turn back around, simply beating a hasty retreat down the corridor.

* * *

Aqualad emerged from the hatch out into the open air of one of the terraces over-looking the vast, people-less wilderness. He couldn't stop a smile from crossing his face as he pulled a chalk out of his pocket, drawing a circle on the ground followed by an ankh symbol under a jackal's head.

"Take me to the Speaker of Anubis." He said clearly, placing his hand on the chalk circle.

_Ah….one born from the myths of our enemies, the Greeks. The Atlantian Kaldur'ahm. Isn't he a bold one?_

_Just let him through the gate. He did the rite properly, didn't he?_

A feminine voice sighed in disappointment as white light began to gather around Aqualad. He closed his eyes as the familiar swooping sensation over stool him, the light becoming like smooth linens that shielded the world from his view.

When the light pulled away from his vision, he wasn't on Mount Justice anymore. Stretched out before him below the hill he was kneeling on, was a plain of thick grass and a few palm trees here and there, jackals just lounging about even though this wasn't their natural habitat. Thick clouds covered the sun and Aqualad rose to his feet as the wind rushed over his face.

"Why do you always appear _exactly_ where I happen to be?" a voice wondered from behind him. He turned; a girl leaning against the side of an unusually large jackal had a smile playing about her wide pink lips, her brown hair tumbling down to her shoulders. She wore a pair of over-sized silver headphones with silver-rimmed sunglasses and there were no wires attached. A silver necklace with a feather pendant on it 'Ma'at' hang from her neck and she wore a black tank top over a turquoise one with jeans, going barefoot like Aqualad was.

"Because I don't want to be bothered looking for you in this huge place, Alora." Aqualad smiled as he sat down next to her, leaning against the jackal's side.

It didn't seem to mind; it just cracked an eye, grunted and went back to sleep.

"The Du'at is _quite_ the place, isn't it?" Alora Gravesend hummed, leaning on Aqualad's shoulder. "You haven't come to see me in awhile, Kaldur."

"I'm sorry. It's been busy on Earth." Aqualad explained as he entangled their fingers together. "How goes the day-job?"

"It's an eternity job." she corrected. "It's more complicated than you think. People die far too much in this world; the different gods had to set up counsels to deal with it all. Master Anubis handles his homeland: Egypt and divides the work into the other death realms."

"_Other _death realms?" Aqualad raised an eyebrow. "How many are there?"

"I probably can't tell you that," Alora smiled. "You're mortal after all. Or an Earth-Dweller, at least."

"So are you."

"Before I died, maybe." The pair fell silent as Aqualad's hand squeezed hers. "It's okay." She whispered. "It's not your fault."

"I could've saved you."

"I _am_ saved, silly fish." Alora assured him. "You did everything you could but it is okay now. Master Anubis persuaded Lord Osiris to let him have an assistant remember? I convince people to _not_ kill others, steer others away from untimely death. Some are too far gone to be saved but its good work; death's not all that bad. I'm Anubis's Speaker but you still get to see me, right?"

"You wouldn't even _be_ Gravesend if I had gotten there in time." Aqualad whispered.

"So heroic; always trying to blame yourself." She sighed. "How are you supposed to save the world if you have all these regrets you can't let go?" Aqualad let her mouth steal over his, pulling him into kiss that deepened as he entangled his fingers into her hair. She tensed in his arms, letting her breath wisp over his face as he loosened his hold. "Don't get too excited, Kaldur."

"I miss you."

Alora sighed as she stretched out on Aqualad's lap, staring up at him. "Stop regretting. You're beginning to look like a lost little soul. Just focus on the good stuff."

"Don't you have work?" Aqualad wondered as her hand reached up, tracing a finger over his face.

"I _am_ working. What do you think these are for?" She tapped the headphones and the glasses with her free hand. "I'm the immortal of multitasking! Now, stop focusing on the bad stuff and just think about the good stuff. Forget about Young Justice for awhile."

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yeah...so I don't know where this came from really...I think i was reading Egyptian novels at the time. :P Go figure. I may continue this I may not...just throwing ideas around. For now this is complete!

I like all the young heroes but Aqualad's my fav (next to my love/hate thing for Red Arrow)

Please review if u alert or fav, I wanna know what u like!


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